The present disclosure relates to a pre-feeder to assist with the transition of a mainsail between a furled condition adjacent the boom to a raised position along a mast.
Furling of a mainsail has been accomplished in a number of ways conventionally. Furling may be done to reef or shorten sail to accommodate wind conditions or it may be done to take down the mainsail for storage. One conventional approach to furling a mainsail is to provide a mechanism, typically incorporated into the boom, that permits the mainsail to be rolled up, such as about a mandrel. Such a furling method permits reefing of the mainsail in a fashion very similar to more traditional slab reefing. Storage of the mainsail with boom furling is also very similar to traditional flaking of the mainsail on the boom for storage.
Conventional approaches to mainsail furling have also permitted boats to be managed with a smaller number of crew than might otherwise conventionally be required. When raising a mainsail conventionally, such as one which has been flaked over the boom, a crew member is typically required to be stationed at the mast to aid the boltrope as it enter a luff groove of the mast. With mainsail boom furling, the mainsail is preferably configured to automatically be guided into the mast groove by a pre-feeder so that the sail can be raised smoothly without needing a crew member help to guide the boltrope.
However, as the sail is furled within the boom, the size of the roll of the mainsail within the boom grows. Placing the pre-feeder in line with the luff groove may mean that when the sail is more fully furled within the boom, the sail cannot enter the pre-feeder at a desirable angle. Such an angle might also make it difficult for luff fittings attached to the mainsail adjacent full length battens to emerge from the boom and smoothly transition onto a mast track as the mainsail is unfurled.
Improvements to conventional mainsail pre-feeders are desirable.
For other installations of sails onto masts, such as for storm sails, it may be desirable to have a mast track that is non-linear while still permitting a sail attachment fitting to move along the track. An example of one such sail attachment might be a desire to have a storm sail, such as a trysail, stowed on deck and affixed to the mast. For a single handed or short handed sailor, the storm sail might be preferably immediately available for hoist along a track affixed to the mast. The sail might be connected to the mast and the mast track by an attachment such as a ball-bearing car configured to slide smoothly along the mast track. If such a sail is positioned behind the mast, placement of the storm sail mast track may be problematic due to the conventional linear and rigid or fixed nature of conventional mast track.
Improvements to conventional mast track are desirable.